Newsletter for the Rotary Club of Greater Geraldton - Issue No.: 781 Issue Date: 22 Apr, 2024

Guest Speaker Wayne Hosking introduced by Viki Fennell:

After graduating from the University of Tasmania with a degree in Applied Science, became head of R&D at the Geraldton Fishermen’s Cooperative in 1995, attracting over $5m of state and federal grants to become Australia’s leading private fisheries research, winning national awards.

Longest serving CEO of the Geraldton Fishermen’s Cooperative, taking it from a small local co-op, to the world’s largest rock lobster exporter with a half-billion dollar turnover and offices and facilities in 3 major Chinese cities.

Served as Chair of the Geraldton University Centre when it established itself as a regionally owned and governed university centre, the first of it’s kind in Australia, and now a model replicated across the country.

Left the fishing industry in 2018 to study a Graduate Diploma in Adult Literacy and Numeracy Teaching, and a Cert IV in Training and Assessment.

Currently employed as a literacy teacher at the Greenough Regional Prison, a tutor for Curtin University’s Centre for Aboriginal Studies, a volunteer for Housing First (getting rough sleepers into their own homes) and a volunteer with Men’s Hub support services.

Here to talk about a new initiative called Hub Cap, that somehow pulls together these seemingly disparate threads of experience to fill a local need and opportunity.

Wayne described his transition from GFC to current role working at Geraldton Regional Prison and his desire to help them learn to read and write.

Hub Cap is for men and is based on Art, Reading, Writing and Music with the underlying ambitions of learning, creating, growing and changing.

It is based at 156 Durlacher St. They have had financial assistance from Centacare, Bendigo Bank and Rotary Club of Geraldton.

Wayne's ambition is to set up a Hub Cap Foundation with three fundamentals:

1) 'hearts and words'- make individual spoken word recordings of men reading onto a CD and then give the CD to children of the men to listen to. 

2) 'art cooperative'- show the men's art on line and merchandise it. All funds back to Hub Cap. Wayne showed us some photos of the art that the men are making. He described it as a critical element in their lives.

3) 'outreach'

Questions from Viki Fennell, Geoff Wood, Jo Fabling.

Phil Martin gave a vote of thanks